Bison Organic Beer “Press Room”

"In the past three years, thanks to the growth of the organic hop market, changes to organic beer labeling standards and evangelism on the part of pioneers like Del Grande, organic beer has finally come into its own."

Hop Cuvée gets started with a sharp hop aroma that tingles the nose. The light golden color previews what is a refreshing pale ale base. Light on the palate, the hops grip the tongue from the second they wash over your palate. Pine, citrus and a rough bitterness finish the beer for a sessionable beer that hop lovers will be sure to love.

"Hop Cuvee is a newly released pale ale from Bison Brewing. It’s a beer that has an accessible, balanced, hoppiness that uses three different types of hop as a celebration of the best hop crops of the years. It’s crisp and citrusy with notes of pine, it’s a great choice for summer."

"Daniel Del Grande, owner and brewer at Bison Brewing, exclusively brews organic beers. “Organic Dan” as he known in some social networks, said he does this to support organic farmers who he believes are the key to sustainability. His mission is to educate consumers and retailers about the positive environmental impact, helping create demand for those organic farmers, to the point where they ultimately convert all of their fields to organic farming."

"[Bison Brewing’s Dan Del Grande’s] Twitter feed is a constant source of sustainability facts, organic beer revelations, and healthy lifestyle tips. Organic beer has been experiencing impressive growth, but still faces a few challenges. Del Grande provided some insight by answering a few questions over email."

Triple Pundit featured an aritcle on its website written by Bison Brewing's owner and brewmaster, Dan Del Grande. "People deserve organic ingredients in organically certified beer. It is not only a matter of truth in labeling, but also a matter of what is best for consumers, the environment, and for sustainable agriculture."

In an effort to sync his business with his personal values, Dan Del Grande recognized a need and started an organic brewery. Del Grande calls Bison Organic Beers a movement not just a Berkeley, CA brewery. He is laser-focused on inspiring the adoption of organic purchasing and challenges more breweries to do the same.

One of the most highly touted green craft brewers around is California's Bison Brewery…I commend Del Grande's decision to study the brewery's carbon footprint to get a realistic sense of where they should focus their greening efforts. Too often assumptions get in the way of making a difference where it matters most.

When Bison Brewing began integrating organic ingredients into their process, it didn't take Dan long to realize he wanted to make it standard for the brewery. By 2003, Bison was a fully organic brewery.

Though, in the past year or so, beer cocktails have gone from anomaly to novelty, they're still far from commonplace, at least in most circles.That might change soon, though, as a new breed of mixologists — led, largely, by Routson, who works at Berkeley's Bison Brewing by day and who also runs BeerMixology.com, a resource for like-minded brewers and bartenders — begins to turn their customers and each other onto the benefits of using beer as a component in cocktails.

“Beer mixology is not about destroying beer. It is not an attempt to make beer better or to alter and change the quality and flavor of beer…it is about improving the cocktail.” Says Ashely Routson, founder of BeerMixology.com and DrinkWithTheWench.com as well as Director of Awesomeness at Bison Brewery.With an improvement of the cocktail, and the addition of craft beer, comes new territory, larger markets and the opportunity to introduce this liquor to those who have previously shunned it. ~Jackie Dodd

For his part, Daniel is looking to educate others on organic beer. He organizes brewmasters dinners twice a week in his local area in order to educate distributors, restaurateurs and customers, who have been resistant to buying and selling organic beer in ways they have not been resistant to other organic products.

"Today, Grande is considered by many to be a leader in the organic brewing industry. Since 1999, he has taught classes on a variety of subjects to budding brewers, including brewery engineering, operation and maintenance, and laboratory work for the American Brewer’s Guild, where he met brewing enthusiast George Allen, now a co-owner of Bison."

"Bison Brewing Company, a contract brewer located in Berkeley, California, sources all of its ingredients from the American northwest. As their business has grown, they have enacted vertical impacts on their supply chain by driving the conversion from conventional to organic farming practices in that region."

"Del Grande has created a Web site that he believes will help brewers source organic hops and communicate with growers. Launched this past March, the “CoHOPerative“has about half a dozen breweries signed on. The site is based on pre–orders, allowing breweries to get together and collectively voice their needs. Demands for different varieties could then be communicated to growers in their full scale, ensuring that enough is grown for everyone."

"Organic brewers like Bison Brewing Company out of Berkeley, California has created a vertical supply chain and has helped their suppliers convert their lands to organic farming in order to ensure a steady stream of non-GMO ingredients."

"Dan Del Grande, owner and brewer at Bison Brewing, also has seen an increased demand for "sessionable beers" — especially in the American East. He says that in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, his 5-percent alcohol honey basil ale is his most popular beer. He also answers the call for session beers by resurrecting a light and summery saison that he hasn't brewed for several years."

“The IPA and Imperial Brown were decent renditions of classic beer styles; the chocolate stout was tasty indeed, with the cocoa powder added to the mash playing the same role it does in a good molé sauce: added depth but not an odd chocolate-y flavor where none should be.”

"Bison’s Organic Stout was really tasty. I have had a few organic beers in the past and they were okay but this one took the notch of the best so far. Clean body, unsweetened chocolate malts, and a silky finish paired perfectly with Wine Affair’s chicken meatballs and bbq sausage plate" ~ Marc Bayes

"Bison Brewing in Berkeley is a leader in the emerging organic market we find springing up all over the West Coast. They take pride in buying their hops organically, and decreasing the pollution in our waterways (farming contributes to 70% of that pollution)."

"It’s a flavor pairing that catches the eye, and the beer is pretty good too. A summery amber ale with the fresh notes from the basil and the residual honey sweetness, well worth trying if you get the chance."

"In the end, this Imperial Brown at 7% is a California session beer. Easy to drink and smooth going down, I could see having a couple pints at a time. While the weather is still damp, be sure to grab some for your fridge. A beer like this will encourage you to stay inside and out of the rain."

"Interview with Bison's Dan DelGrande: "Organic beer is finally making sense to customers of grocery stores and restaurants, so buyers are increasing our placements up from maybe one item to three or four items per store. Many new stores are adding organic beer."

"Bison has robust environmental credentials: it has conducted a carbon footprint analysis of its operations, practices on-site wastewater treatment, and has a standard operations cycle for his cleaning procedures. It is also very involved in its local community."

"Roasted coffee flavors sink into the tongue first, while chocolate notes emerge as the beer washes back. Roasted and hoppy bitterness scrapes through the mouth, drying out the palate, but leaving behind a lasting suggestion of chocolate."

"The history of the brewery was a little turbulent but the excellence of their product has prevailed as exemplified by beers such as Chocolate Stout, Honey Basil Ale, and, the beer we’re focusing on today, Gingerbread Ale."